Category: Kitchen Gadgets

While Laura Cipullo and the Laura Cipullo Whole Nutrition Team work on some new and exciting projects, you may notice less posts on the Eating and Living Moderately Blog. We have created a “blog shelf” below to keep you entertained and educated. Get caught up on the latest nutrition education by clicking on each year below. We will send you nutrition updates, but we will not be inundating your mailboxes on a weekly basis. If you want weekly “love” and inspiration, subscribe to our Mom Dishes It Out blog for weekly posts and recipes. Mom Dishes It Out provides expert advice from mom Registered Dietitians and mom Speech Pathologists on the “how to” of health promotion!

The EALM Blog Shelf

Please feel free to peruse our posts organized by year below. Or take a look at the categories listed at the bottom of the page to find a post in the desired.

Did you know that your dinner plates can actually affect the amount of food you and your children consume? As a mom and dietitian, I understand the need for parents to feed their kids well while fostering a positive relationship with food. This relationship is more complicated than the nutritional value of what you serve, however; in fact, it actually begins with your servingware.

If you haven’t thought about it before, then consider it now. Beyond ingredients alone, parents need to think about the ways in which the environment impacts children’s associations with food. Eating off of dishes that we find aesthetically pleasing or comforting can set us up for a sense of satisfaction before even taking a bite off our plate – and the same goes for our children.

When it comes to finding the perfect plates that suit your parenting philosophies and personal styles, consider yourselves covered. These five picks won’t just help to foster healthy attitudes in the kitchen; they’ll also eliminate unnecessary stress by prompting your ever-picky eaters to finish what’s in front of them.

1. The No Fuss Mom: Corelle White Dish

I’ve eaten off of these plates for years! Dishwasher safe and practically unbreakable, there is nothing better than these crisp, white dishes – except, that is, the price!

For a mere $50 dollars, you can purchase a set of eight of these family-friendly plates.

Eating off of white dishes creates a colorful contrast with your meal which, based on studies by Dr. Brain Wainsink, lends to eating smaller portions and over time, an easy way to lose weight without consciously dieting.

2. The Eco-chic Mom: Bambooware Santa Barbara Dinnerware

For the environmentally sound mother with a love of anything green, these eco-chic plates from Bambooware are made of bamboo and are decidedly awesome.

Not only are they melamine-free, but these low-impact plates are both reusable and dishwasher safe, making them perfect for every occasion, from family meals to birthday parties and more.

3. The New Mom: Green Eats BPA-Free Kids Dishes

Babies and tots are known for touching, tantrums and throwing, so we’re not exactly serving our little bundles of joy baby food or even finger food off of our finest china. Yet with all the talk and rising concerns about BPA, many parents are hesitant to use plastic servingware, bottles and plates – even if many states, including New York and California, have put BPA-free laws in place.

Ever wonder about the best way to store coffee, the correct temperature for cooking a cut of meat, or how to make a flakey pasty crust?

In today’s digital age we often just turn to Google for instantaneous answers to all of our questions. But there’s nothing quite like having this information in one easily accessible place. Keep in mind that not everything we read on the Internet comes from reliable sources. Finding trustworthy answers to these kinds of questions often requires us to research many different sites. Whether you are a dietitian, chef, home cook, or simply someone who eats (i.e. ANYONE!), you probably have a variety of questions about food and cooking. Why does a certain food do that when it cooks? Where does our food come from? How has food changed over the years? If you’re at all curious about food or cooking, here are three highly recommended books to help answer your questions…whether you’re an at-home food scientist, a “YUMPIE” chef or simply a literature loving foodie. These books are sure to make your epicurean experiences that much more satisfying.

For the more experienced and the science-minded person, On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee is a great resource—an encyclopedia dealing exclusively with food and cooking—and one of my favorites reference sources! McGee’s book contains definitive answers to many of our everyday food questions…and so much more. The book begins by focusing on the most commonly used ingredients. So here are just a few of the things you can learn: the difference between cream and milk, how eggs are graded, and various cooking methods for meat and fish. It provides descriptions of some of the more than 2,000 cultivated varieties of edible plants. It discusses different flavors. It explains the baking process and how to create a variety of sauces. It reveals how to brew alcoholic beverages. And it includes in-depth descriptions of cooking methods and materials. This book is a “must have” for nutrition and culinary students as well as professional chefs. It’s also a great reference tool for the at-home chef to keep close at hand. You can easily research the reasons behind a specific food reaction and/or quickly find answers to your daily cooking questions.

If you want to learn about food science but actually are not too fond of science, Cooking for Geeks: Real Science, Great Hacks, and Good Foodby Jeff Potter may be the perfect book for you. A quick read, it helps you effortlessly expand your knowledge about food science. Potter breaks down the complexities of food science into easy-to-understand terms. And once you understand the science behind cooking, you’ll be able to view your recipes from entirely new perspectives. Your kitchen will be stocked with blank canvas for you to create masterpieces. Potter also includes some basic foundational recipes to help the concepts solidify in your brain. You’ll learn why something happens and then be able to attempt it in your own test kitchen!

By the way…. YUMPIE is a real word! A YUMPIE is a young, educated, career-orientated person who wants to get ahead in the world.[i] Don’t believe me? Check out dictionary.com.

If you want to learn more about food and cooking but are really more interested in the story than the science, Consider the Fork by Bee Wilson would be perfect for your next beach read or even a good option for your book club. Written by food writer and historian Bee Wilson, Consider the Fork takes you on an adventure depicting how your kitchen tools affect your food. Written as a novel rather than a reference tool, it includes some science and history but is also interwoven with personal experiences. Wilson’s book provides an interesting visualization about how the tools we’ve used throughout history have shaped what we eat today.

No matter what stage of the game you currently may have reached in your kitchen comfort, knowledge and/or expertise, you’ll learn much more about food and how best to prepare it with each one of these books. Not only will they help you when you’re in the kitchen, but you’ll also be able to impress your family and friends with some fun food facts the next time you’re out for lunch or dinner. Or, perhaps, if you wind up trying to solve a crossword puzzle laden with food clues!

Welcome Summer! We can’t wait for the barbecues, beach picnics, and tasty summer dishes to make. To keep in the celebration of Summer we wanted to host a giveaway with 2 great prizes for 1 lucky winner. See below for the details and good luck!

We all know how important adequate water intake is and CamelBak has just made things a lot easier! Their new Groove water bottle provides great-tasting filtered water that follows you wherever you go! The plant-based filter lasts three months, which means that it replaces 375 disposable plastic water bottles. The bottle is BPA free and contains a spill-proof bite valve so it helps you take on the day regardless of what comes your way! GIVEAWAY DETAILS: Two lucky winners will receive a CamelBak! Enter by one of the following ways. You can submit more than one entry by doing any of the following. Just be sure to leave an additional comment letting us know you did! Good luck!

A cornucopia of ideas for a thriftier Thanksgiving and ways to give back are shared in www.eHow.com’sBountiful Thanksgiving Budget article. See your RD’s suggestions like “meals on wheels”, volunteering the week after the holiday for your soup kitchen and saving you heart & wallet with olive oil at eHow.

Be cautious of food labels claiming “low-fat,” “low-sugar,” or “low-calorie.” These foods can cause people to overeat because they don’t feel as “guilty” about consuming them in comparison to the regular versions.

If you are feeling sad, don’t use food to try to improve your mood. Instead, try going for a walk, watching a movie, or talking to a friend.